Binance blocks crypto accounts of relatives tied to the Russian government

[crzy]

Regardless of their relationship to the government official of Russia, Binance should not do this because this is cryptocurrency and this actions are really different from their first statement, for sure other countries also put big pressure on Binance to do this because if they don’t they will surely face consequences. Well, Binance is centralized so what can we expect? Once the US government tells them what to do they can’t say NO to that. Better to have a hard wallet after all, its too risky to trust CEX that much.

[STT]

Binance is trying to appear the good guy vs regulators who have acted to restrict its business previously.   Its not really the nature of crypto to be pro active in this way vs people who may have nothing to do with what you intend to impede but I get why they think its a good idea.   Certainly all these sanctions must be some incentive regardless of personal politics to wrap up this war not continue in a pointless pursuit of destruction.

[Doan9269]

I was surprised when i heard somes news claim weeks ago about how the Russian government uses Binance to derive Ukrainians data and other dirty unrealistic claims as such is far from believing, i doubted bas well but not until I come across this, even though we can not be confident enough with data protection when dealing with all centralized exchanges but i so much believe in this in such a way that Binance adhere strictly to US, and it also evidently shows us, because Binance could not go beyond in support for Russia's human massacre on Ukraine in other for it not to receive ba global karma.

[kamilah147]

The war was very fatal for the citizens of Russia and Ukraine. Because politics in government is so chaotic that its citizens are subject to sanctions that the world has imposed on their government. Ukraine is seen as a victim because of the Russian invasion, but Russian citizens are also victims because of its government. I don't think this is fair, if it's the state that made the mistake of the chaos, then we have to look at the causes of the chaos. All countries want peace, but if there is a threat that endangers their country, everyone will take precautions. However, all that has happened, I also hope that our Russian brothers and sisters will soon take the opportunity to withdraw all their money on Binace. And reinvest in exchanges that don't interfere with world politics.

[yawars20]

Well in this opinion am quite opposite thinker from so many.
I lnow their is a critical situation their in Ukraine and almost every one is supporting them but some companies qnd and individuals are using it as an opportunity to gain everyone's attention to gain popularity cashing big.
This type of hypocrisy even can be seen on western media channels where they are shouting each and every day against Russia but when USA use forces against different countries and interface in their personal matters they called it heroic action.

[Gyfts]

Binance is a private company so I don't personally see an issue with their selective denial of service to Russian affiliated accounts. I would just not the blatant hypocrisy of private entities seemingly caring so much about Russian human rights violations with the war in Ukraine while simultaneously denying human rights violations that occur in places elsewhere, like China and Uyghur muslims. It'd be nice if there was a consistent standard.

The article starts with a spokesman's daughter having her funds locked on the exchange, this doesn't look like an attack on the Russian people but still the kremlin.

The problem is we don't know the daughter's affiliation with the direct war effort or Russian government. I don't think guilt by association is anything productive.

[Leviathan.007]

That's too funny how we hear news about the exchanges and the Russian government, just a few days ago I saw an article where people believe Binance is selling users' information to Russians and they have some collaborations together and now Binance starting to suspend the accounts how are related to the Russian governments, however, by doing this Binance will take a huge advantage because usually the Russian government related accounts are loaded and if they suspend these account there will be much-suspended money for Binance, however, I don't think if there are many Russian movement-related accounts on Binance because they usually prefer to do not reveal their real identity on these exchanges.

[DrBeer]

Bravo! Binance has joined the fight against the global sponsor of terrorism and global terrorist! And of course, it is necessary to block all possible "purses" through which there may be attempts to withdraw funds to avoid sanctions. This is fine ! When a criminal is caught, they can carry out operational actions with relatives and friends. In a word, thanks to Binance for a balanced and thoughtful decision! The exchange proves its stability and quality!

[Kakmakr]

I think the move to do that was simple..... If someone is doing something that are blocked, their first strategy to circimvent that, would be to shift that wealth to a relative or a friend that are not targeted for those actions. You will always see that a "target" will use their wife or brother to launder the money or to store their wealth, until the focus is shifted away from them.

So yes, this move will just tighten the sanctions and close up the possible loophole that can be used to circumvent the sanctions. Is this fair.... Nope probably not... but you will have to ask yourself this question ===> Did the family or relatives benefit from the spoils of corruption and war mongering that provided them with their wealth?

[palle11]

I think binance as a CEX is allowing a total control of itself to be manipulated for reason to achieve the full short down of the Putin government. The names that their accounts have been banned are mostly supporters of Putin and they have also been banned by the US government. The picture is clear with the unfolding of the happenings going on with Russia and Ukraine with the NATO and EU influence.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

In war nothing is nice, nor fair, nor "proper".

That's true, but that saying usually only applies to what's happening in the military, not relatively small financial institutions, which is what I think Binance qualifies as.

I'd guess that Binance was nicely, but also officially, asked to block this or that. It's not the first time they obey official papers and lock users' funds.

Agreed.  I can't imagine that they'd do this on their own, although I don't really know much about Binance, who's in charge, and what their political leanings are (if any). 

And no, I don't think this is right at all.  Just look at this:

“Proud to be a part of this team that makes a real difference,” Binance’s newly appointed global head of sanctions, Chagri Poyraz, wrote on his LinkedIn page on Binance’s latest measures.

“What’s different is that our compliance screen operations are ‘proactive,’ aiming to detect and deter financial crime risk before any regulatory or legal action towards these individuals or entities,” he said.

Global head of sanctions. 

Are any of us still concerned about privacy and centralization?  Or does any of that apply only when a crypto exchange is fucking someone else over?  What happens when an exchange suddenly finds a reason to target you for whatever reason they make up on the spot?  No matter what your opinion is about Russia, those people who got blocked probably weren't involved in any of the political decision making in Putin's circle when the war started.  This doesn't help anything, and frankly I've lost a ton of respect for Binance and whatever trust I had in them as an exchange is gone.

[Dr.Osh]

well, this is one of the negative effects of war. even, when you are not directly involved with them, but you are in the area, you can be affected. Apart from that, I think Binance is also being urged by regulations so that people immediately stop the war. Therefore, I also agree that people who feel connected to all of this should keep their assets safe from these exchanges. we don't know what kind of regulation there will be for Russia in the future in the international world. I hope that this is all over soon.

[kryptocanon]

The idea of choosing in a conflict like this doesn't sound so well to me and I think that's what Binance did by blocking the Russians. And I think a move like this might backfires at a later time on Binance.

[CaVO32]

The idea of choosing in a conflict like this doesn't sound so well to me and I think that's what Binance did by blocking the Russians. And I think a move like this might backfires at a later time on Binance.

There may be valid reasons why binance is now blocking accounts tied to Russian government. One I think, is the tight regulations where they are operating. Because at the early days of war, binance was still servicing all users, whether you are a Russian or not. And now, they started to restrict their services. So they may also be preparing for the sanctions that are being implemented on crypto businesses that are still catering Russians and other relatives. We can't blame if they resort to this move. If by any chance you have relation with Russians, better secure your funds in your own noncustodial wallet.

[yhiaali3]

I think this is the absolutely correct decision, the Russian users of crypto platforms have nothing to do with what the Russian government is doing. When Putin or the Russian government decided to invade Ukraine, they did not take the consent of the Russian citizens to do so. Crypto users have nothing to do with politics so they cannot be held accountable for the political mistakes of their governments. All exchanges that have banned Russian users should do exactly the same as Binance.

[Quidat]

I think this is the absolutely correct decision, the Russian users of crypto platforms have nothing to do with what the Russian government is doing. When Putin or the Russian government decided to invade Ukraine, they did not take the consent of the Russian citizens to do so. Crypto users have nothing to do with politics so they cannot be held accountable for the political mistakes of their governments. All exchanges that have banned Russian users should do exactly the same as Binance.

Your argumentation does contradict which you had said that they have nothing to do with political issues and argues but you do agree on what Binance had been doing?
They should do the opposite but we know that these platforms are regulated  which this is really just that subjective into particular laws and rules
which its understandable that even if Binance doesnt really want to do such gesture but they dont really have any choice for them to avoid or
ignore on whats mandated.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

<snip>
Your argumentation does contradict which you had said that they have nothing to do with political issues and argues but you do agree on what Binance had been doing?

Whew, I'm glad I wasn't the only one who caught that contradiction.  I'm not sure if that member is just writing nonsense to boost his post count or doesn't understand English well enough to convey his opinion correctly.  Very weird.

In any case, I was thinking about this some more, and I wonder how people would feel if Theymos suddenly decided to ban all accounts from Russian IPs or a similar action.  I'm guessing opinions would be very much mixed, but my point is that sanctions against Russia as a country or even specific individuals who had no say in Putin's war end up hurting innocent people.  Maybe not all of them are, but certainly there are some who are innocent.  That's unfair, akin to holding hostages IMO.

[Similificator]

Are any of us still concerned about privacy and centralization?  Or does any of that apply only when a crypto exchange is fucking someone else over?  What happens when an exchange suddenly finds a reason to target you for whatever reason they make up on the spot?  No matter what your opinion is about Russia, those people who got blocked probably weren't involved in any of the political decision making in Putin's circle when the war started.  This doesn't help anything, and frankly I've lost a ton of respect for Binance and whatever trust I had in them as an exchange is gone.

The way I see it, only a few are left that truly cares about privacy. Specially now that mass adoption requires at least a bit of centralization.

And yes, I agree that what binance did is truly alarming. This just shows that binance has let go of it's last bit of consideration for the decentralization that this industry mainly stands for (other than fixing existing problems) in exchange of being able to freely operate and grow their business.

Although as a crypto holder and trader myself, I admit that I agree to compromise as well and disclose personal information just to be able make use of what I earn along with the profits I gain through trading since it is much easier to deposit when using fiat on centralized exchanges (specially on binance here in my country). Life is tough, it is  what it is. But that does not mean that I am willing to put up with all the crap an exchange does which can endanger my hard earned assets.

TBH, I right now am currently hopping from one exchange to another looking for the most crypto enthusiast friendly ones. Not that I am expecting much from centralized exchanges but at least a bit more reasonable approach and has some back bone to not make unreasonable bans or whatever unless the matter involves issues between the exchange itself and the user and not some outside variables like government conflicts etc.

See, if binance can do it to the relatives of Russian people, then it can certainly do it to me and the others as well. Only thing binance needs to do is make up an excuse and we can get ourselves banned right there and then.

I honestly do not use binance that much anymore. Except for depositing fiat or for trading alts that are not on other exchanges. although some of binance's features along with their earn sections were quite appealing to me back then, it is not that worth it in my eyes anymore after a few things that they did and also because of the fact that there currently are better offers on other exchanges nowadays.

If one day, another good crypto exchange becomes available here in my country that supports or has the features I need which binance currently has I'd definitely forget about the existence of binance.

[NeuroticFish]

Global head of sanctions. 

Are any of us still concerned about privacy and centralization?

Wow, this is a bit extreme, ... having somebody appointed as "head of sanctions"... I would be laughing if it wouldn't be as much concerning (as lame).
And about concerns on centralization... we both know that whoever keeps there more funds than he can easily lose, he deserves his fate. Not your keys, not your coins.

[The Sceptical Chymist]

Wow, this is a bit extreme, ... having somebody appointed as "head of sanctions"... I would be laughing if it wouldn't be as much concerning (as lame).

Agree, it is extreme.  I also can't imagine Binance would have appointed someone with that title had it not been for some governmental influence being exerted.  And just so no one misunderstands where I'm coming from, I'm not anti-Ukraine by any means.  I just think politics should be left out of places where it doesn't belong, and the world of cryptocurrency is one of them.

And about concerns on centralization... we both know that whoever keeps there more funds than he can easily lose, he deserves his fate. Not your keys, not your coins.

Again, I can't argue with that one bit--but we all know how important crypto exchanges are, whether you're leaving your coins on there or not.  If they don't care at all about what cryptocurrency originally stood for, then I'd say that's a major problem.